


Bump

by Geisterschiff



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:59:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14795255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geisterschiff/pseuds/Geisterschiff
Summary: It was a road full of bumps they had to cling to to not fall off... until they bumped into each other.Shortfic for a tumblr prompt requesting a happy AU based on the 'happy what if' from the anime.





	Bump

Growing up after their separation had been harsh and took horrendous amount of effort from both of their sides. There were many new things they had to get used to. Many old ones too, feeling completely different done alone than when they were doing them together. They had to bite their teeth and push through, not looking back but forward and forward only even though their paths were just an edge clinging to the side of a high cliff.  
It was narrow. Rocky. Too easy to slip and fall from, especially when plagued by thoughts. By lonely ones. By angry ones. By 'what ifs' promising a better reality.  
Time moved on, though, and so did they - shaping the uncertain goals at the end of their roads. Setting them into stones, debris pieces pointy under their toes. Stone dust curled around their feet, but their eyes were stuck on their last leap.  
Their origin.  
Slum’s scums.  
One leading a normal, respectable life? The other becoming a king? Hah.

It took a stumble back, perhaps two, to find the sure footing they needed. They dug their feet into the ground despite the pain, charged at the edge with a run and jumped full of faith _to reach_.  
It still felt like falling to death. The rush of air went past their ears and fluttered their clothes, feeling like hands grabbing at them and pulling them back. Pulling them down. And yet their feet landed on the other side with ease. One last glance at what they left behind opened the curtain that had seemed so distant, so unreachable.  
The new lives welcomed them with a warm, reassuring arm around their shoulders.  


The path was also broader on the other side. Comfortable. They didn't have to fight for every next step by digging nails into stone to pull themselves forward. Instead soft sand crunched under their sore feet, pressed in between their toes. And underneath the soothing sand, a solid ground they could build upon. The one happiness of his family, the other prosperity of his kingdom.  
Suddenly there weren't any people pulling them back, but many pushing them forward and the simple walk through life turned into a dance.  
It was an unknown dance, peculiar. With many twists and turns, their hearts urging to do some swirls and beating fast in a wild churn. Closing their eyes they let the hearts take the lead, skipping not even one single beat.  
It was a lucky thing they did that soon, understanding their hearts knew the way how to work this strange dance.  
It moved them along so much faster. It gave them wings. They grew feather after feather with every beat of their heart, which pumped out the fear of falling down the deep cliff. The fear gurgled in their chests right under the skin, refusing to let go until hands ripped it out and threw it down. Their dancing feet stomped onto it and then... Then the fear died like a beast. In wailing and screeching, which was vain and weak, could not be heard over their laughter, with their wings now open and free.

  
Even though the wings were just imaginary, Alibaba still felt like flying. And sometimes… sometimes he did.  
He put away the royal robes and dressed in the clothes of a commoner. It was easy to slip out of the palace then, easy to slip among people unnoticed. He walked through Balbadd, and watched and noted. How smiles stretched people’s faces, all the words that came out of their mouths in bubbling voices. It urged him to continue his efforts, if not double them.  
At first glance he seemed to wander the streets aimlessly, only to bask in what his rule had spread. Stopped at taverns, ordering beers, engaging with people. Yet the whole time he collected - ideas and suggestions ushered to him - a complete stranger - that would otherwise never reach his ears.

  
The sun was slowly rolling down the sky, but its warmth still prickled the skin, when Alibaba was out once again. He stood in the middle of an almost empty street. Wind was pulling at the scarf wrapped around his head to hide blond hair, not strong enough to untangle even though it tried. He held the scarf up to hide his face as well while his eyes roamed over the building in front of him. Jumping from cracks in the wall to bushes of dry grass peeking out from in between the bricks to an old, weathered signboard. It swayed in the wind with a symphony of creaks. Alibaba squinted to make out the picture that had been painted on it, but the swaying, the paint that was peeled off more than it was not, made it impossible.  
He had no clue what pub this was. Did not remember visiting it before. Did not remember ever seeing it here. Not in his highest high, nor in his lowest low. And yet it seemed old, standing here for long.  
Time to go in and see, and listen, what opinions might swirl in the brains of those residing here.  


The door creaked in harmony with the signboard, a tall man walking out backwards, his goodbyes cheerful and loud and Alibaba slid past him through the door like a shadow he intended to be. It felt almost like an evading maneuver, his arm clasped on the small of his back like he had been drilled to do by his sword-fighting instructor. He had to grin at his own silliness. A pang of nostalgia immediately grappled at the grin. Alibaba got rid of it with a shake of his head, a sigh, a rub at his chin. He stepped away from the door and deeper into the tavern.  
It was full and lively. He had to search for a bit to find a spot where he could sit. The table wasn’t completely empty, a lone figure sitting at one end, but that was fine. That was good. It would be easier to thread into conversation like this than while sitting completely isolated. And that was what he came here for, after all.  
No one paid him any attention as he walked, and yet with every step he felt like being watched. Alibaba sat down with a weird feeling curled in his abdomen, a hissing snake with a rattling tail. Danger that somehow still radiated warmth. Like something was off and yet so right. Like he had been here, just did not remember. Like maybe…  


Alibaba lifted his hand to adjust the scarf around his face, ready to stumble at the stranger with his words. But blond hair spilled out where it should have not. He reached to push it back, fingertips already brushing the golden strands, when a mug was set down in front of him by a barmaid. She did it in a rush, already waltzing away and he stared at the ale spilled over the top and slowly sliding down the dark brown glaze of the sturdy porcelain. He hadn’t asked for anything yet, but that was how it worked here apparently. With a shrug he finally tugged the wild strands in and went for it. Grabbed the mug tight, lifted it high, his parched throat screaming. He sat it at his lips, but then did not tip to take a sip. He stared at the young man sitting at the table across him, who stared right back, quite unabashedly.  
Alibaba had always hoped he would get the chance to meet him again. He wanted everything to be perfect then, him to be perfect. This was unexpected. Sudden. Just like when the mug suddenly stood in front of him and now clacked against his teeth. He did not feel ready yet.  
And yet…  
Yet here he were. Here Cassim were.  
The sounds of the tavern were gone, hidden under a layer of deafening silence. Their eyes were locked into each other, their lips sealed shut. Time swirled around them like stale breath, seemingly unmoving, yet rushing down like the sand in an hourglass. The mug grew too heavy for Alibaba’s shivering hand. He spilled ale on his clothes. He swore loud and brought the noise of the tavern back, two hollering laughters joining in right then and there.  
They ran their mouths, wild and loud, but when they left, there was no word. Just a clasp of two palms sealing a binding agreement.

  


It became their tavern. Their table.  
They couldn’t always meet there at the same time, but when they did Alibaba slid into the seat across a gloomy looking Cassim without any greeting. There were already two mugs of ale waiting, one immediately pushed towards him. A slow slide over the bumpy wood, liquid sloshing when it finally stood. But not for long. It was grabbed and lifted and ‘clank!’ did it go against Cassim’s, drops raining down onto the table, some splattering on skin. Halves of both mugs were drained at the same moment and then they both stared at each other like the first time they met again.  
Until a soft hand reached over to dust the few sand corns of the day’s heavy labor away, only to have expensive ink smeared from its skin by a calloused thumb. A snicker sounded, a laugh, then a silent grin. One that stretched as wide as it could go, one that let them both know, let both of their hearts beat the same beat. Of how holding onto their difficult paths for dear lives until the very end had been worth it.


End file.
